


Erroneously Heroic

by differentjasper



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: Accidental Heroism, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Background Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Kinda, M/M, Minorly - Freeform, Multi, Nonbinary Character, POV Alternating, Rating May Change, Swearing, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2019-11-13 15:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18034313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/differentjasper/pseuds/differentjasper
Summary: Emmet Brickowski seems to fall into being an accidental hero no matter what world he's in. And this one hassuperheroes. Who are weirdly insistent on him being a superhero, too.





	1. A trip to the museum

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I'm writing it!! This was just ramblings on tumblr, so big thank you to sweet-general-mayhem and tacobellsagaanon for liking it ^v^  
> If you go to my cartoon tumblr, captainunderkrupp, the AU ramblings should be there in my art tag, but it's got biiig spoilers for what my plans for the fic are OoO So be warned abt that.  
> Enjoy tiny Emmet! ^v^

"Em! Keep up!" the teacher called, after Emmet got glued to yet another display description.

"Oh! Sorry!" Emmet squeaked, running after the rest of the class. He wanted to grab his buddy's hand, but the last time he did that, he pulled away and his arm hurt for a couple minutes from being yanked so hard. So, he was just going to keep his hands to himself, if that was ok!

The teacher (Emmet couldn't remember her name. Mrs. Sketcher?) just sighed and shook her head. She seemed kind of sad, or maybe tired. Either way, she just told Emmet to stay with the group.

Emmet's class was getting to go to a museum! They were being led by the curator, who said he was happy to see the Southeast Bricksburg Elementary School Third Grade. With a special voice and everything. Emmet really liked him, and he was really interesting, but he also skipped over some _really_ interesting stuff on the descriptions of the displays.

"Alright, we can't see the Artifacts wing today, because it's being remodeled..." Emmet heard distantly as he noticed another plaque, one about raptors, and was mildly surprised when there wasn't just a chorus of _'awwww'_ s. I mean, they were missing a whole section of the museum! That's disappointing! But he supposed he was already busy enough with what he _could_ see.

He hummed to himself as he moved on to the next display, something that he'd heard on the radio. His mom had let him listen when he'd found an old one in the thrift store. _"Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough..."_

Emmet skipped on to the next display, and the next, and then he had to duck under something to get to the next one, and then...

He looked up, and realized he didn't know where the group was, and that there were no more displays to read because he was surrounded by construction.

He gulped. He couldn't get in trouble for wandering away from the group again! And he thought he was getting better at that! He looked around, trying to see if he could spot them, but all he saw was dust and leftover tools. Despite being the middle of the afternoon, it was dark, gloomy, and _empty._

Emmet was beginning to panic as he realized he didn't know which exit might lead back to the main part of the museum, and to his classmates. And it was so dark, he was starting to get scared. And all that scaffolding that led up to the ceiling seemed to be _looming..._

In his panic, he didn't realize he was backing into a display that hadn't been taken down during the construction, for some reason. He spun around, suddenly coming face to face with an open display. He was at the end of a hall, very much _away_ from any decent exit. He winced as it wobbled on its display, but was relieved that it didn't fall. The rocky purple base seemed to stabilize it.

Emmet stared at the item for a moment. He could barely see it in the dark, but the rocks themselves seemed to _glow..._ he couldn't quite read the description, but he could make out _this artifact was donated by..._ It was a very pretty thing, despite its plain nature, outside of the base.

Suddenly... despite all the warnings given by the curator and the teacher at the beginning of the tour of _not to touch..._

He _very much_ wanted to touch it. And not only that, something in the back of his head said it was _ok,_ that it was _fine,_ that he should _really_ touch it _right now._ It was practically _calling his name._

Deciding that if it was left in the construction area, it wasn't _that_ easy to damage, and he reached out...

The moment his fingertips touched the orange of the main block, the light of the purple _flared._

* * *

_A police officer smiling, then glaring. The teacher and the curator, calling for Em. A bright orange vest, and a calming blue cape. A baby laughing. Blue and pink hair. So many bright colors, swirling, meeting, and then something dark in the middle of it all--_

* * *

Emmet woke up. He felt a little funny, and then realized he was sitting upright in a chair. And he was remembering something, what was it--

"Hello, little buddy."

Emmet jumped, and realized there was a table too. Across from him was a police officer, dressed in much darker clothes than what was in the TV shows. And with more zippers. The man was smiling brightly, his eyes big behind his glasses.

"What's your name, little buddy?" the nice officer asked. Emmet could see himself in the reflection of the glasses, just slightly.

"Em Brickowski," Emmet said, a little quietly. That's what he liked people liked to call him, anyway. Or it was close enough.

"And how old are you, Em?"

"I'm eight and a half!" He threw up eight fingers, and struggled for a moment to hold up a ninth half way before just going with the eight.

The officer chuckled. "That's great! I'm going to ask you a couple questions about that brick on your back, ok Em?"

Emmet was confused. A brick on his back? He spun around to try and see it, but he didn't really have much of an option to do that, and ended up nearly falling out of the chair he was sitting in. He ended up craning his neck around, and was confused by the color, but then he realized: it was the artifact. The one that was previously on the display. _Oh no._

"I didn't mean to touch it!" he protested. "I just was curious about the displays, and I got lost, and--"

The officer held up his hand, silencing Emmet. "That's _ok,_ Em. We're just glad you're alright." Emmet relaxed, happy that he wasn't in trouble. He _really_ didn't want to get in trouble. He followed the rules as best he could... "So, you did touch it?" Em nodded. "Do you remember anything after that? Any funny dreams?"

Emmet paused. Now that he thought of it, he... did. There was something, full of color, that he _knew_ hadn't happened... at least, he thought...

There was that whispering again. Something in the back of his head saying _don't talk about it, don't tell them, it's a bad idea..._

And he decided to tell the truth.

"I never have any dreams," he said honestly. He didn't remember having dreams before, ever. Everyone had them, apparently, but he couldn't remember his, or something.

The officer looked confused, but almost relieved at the same time. Like if Emmet's answer was different, he would have had to do something he didn't want to, but wasn't expecting anything else to come out of the kid's mouth.

"Alright, then, little buddy," he finally said, smiling. "We're gonna call your parents now, ok? Can you hang tight for us?" Emmet nodded really fast; he could be really good at that! As long as no one told him to stop fidgeting. He could stay in the chair, at least. The cop smiled, and left him alone in the room.

That confused Emmet a little bit, since he didn't get left alone very often, but then his teacher rushed in (Stevens?) and hugged him, and his field trip buddy came in after her and apologized for not letting Emmet hold his hand. Emmet just grinned and said it was ok, _he_ was ok. Especially when his parents came in a little while after that, and he had a new friend named Larry.

His parents took him into another room, somewhere kind of dark and with a giant machine in it. The police officer explained that some of the workers were going to take the brick off Emmet's back, which was a relief, considering that it was _really_ heavy, and he kept falling over.

They also said it wasn't going to hurt, but that's also what the doctor says when he gives you a shot, so Emmet cried until it was over, heat still on his back as his parents hugged and kissed him and the cop said "Sorry, little buddy," over and over again until he fell asleep once more.

He noticed that the whispers were gone when he woke up.


	2. Accidents Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tysm for this great response!!! ❤️❤️❤️ All the comments give me life, so again ty to @SweetGeneralMayhem and everyone else for liking this idea 😊 Enjoy a new chapter!

__

_13 1/2 years later..._

Emmet giggled to himself as he remembered, again, that a museum had once stood here. A museum he'd gone to! And now he was building something new over it!

Well, he and the crew. No construction worker really does anything alone when they're building. "Frank! Heads up!" he calls as he tosses a wooden joint over.

"Thanks!" Frank calls back, barely looking up as he catches it. Emmet chuckles, and then his watch starts beeping. He looks down, and notices that it's his designated lunchtime.

"I'm going on break!" Emmet calls, more generally this time. No one really said anything back, though some called out "Me too!" "Me three!" while the rest focused on their work. They were building a new Octan office building, and they needed to get it finished as soon as possible for Mayor Business. He was being really generous with this contract, and they wanted to show that they were reliable in following the instructions his offices created!

He settled in the empty lot across the street, where another building was going up. Larry said it was probably a coffee shop, or at least that was the rumor going around at his outlet of StarBricks. With its proximity to the Octan offices, it would get a lot more foot traffic, and Larry thought that would be good for his wallet. Emmet couldn't confirm it though, since it wasn't his crew who was working on it. Larry had been disappointed, but gave Emmet the usual Friend Discount (aka, the "you can use my employee discount, it's fine Em, it's not _technically_ against the rules, chill out" discount) anyway.

Emmet made sure to check around for possible _Coming Soon!_ type signs, perhaps lying just out of sight behind scaffolding, but nothing. He sighed, and pulled out his sandwich and juice box, (no peanuts!) and settled in to eat.

He was most of the way through his sandwich and regretting not taking smaller sips of his juice box on that hot day, when he heard a distant, resonate, and repetitive _boom. Boom. BOOM._

And it was getting louder.

Emmet's eyes widened as he saw, just over the brickwork of the buildings on the next block over, a _villain fight._

The big villain of this battle seemed to be a man with rocket boots, who had barely any theme compared to last week's "Hawk Man". It was just lots of metal, with some purple decals. They didn't even _glow._

Oh man, Emmet should _not_ have skipped the dream journal this morning. Those purple bits might have been important.

He at the very least saw that a flying person in blue had just punched out the guy in the rocket boots. And he heard before he saw a _giant_ four wheeler fly up over the buildings and ram him in the side. And that meant... oh dear. The rocket boots seemed to have stopped working and he was flying toward him.

He knew that wasn't good.

He'd already jumped up when he'd seen the four wheeler, so all he had to do was drop his trash and run. Though, he remembered something in his dream, where he--

Oh, that's right. He got _smashed_ into the ground by a flying man in a metal suit. That was painful.

They both rolled. Emmet's face hit the dirt, again and again and again as they spun. He felt himself run into some of the scaffolding, the weight of the villain's suit throwing them right through the support beams and the hanging tarps.

He had a passing thought of, _considering this city, you'd think they'd make scaffolding more durable..._

Then suddenly they were stopped, and Emmet hissed at the sudden bloom of pain in his forehead as something _hard_ hit it. And not the wall, that had found his back, and he was taking his vacation days starting _tomorrow._ Ouch. Emmet winced as he struggled with the tarp and whatever had landed on his head to check on the injury with his fingers.

He was so preoccupied with the blood on his fingers when he pulled them away, that he didn't even notice the villain was getting up. And he was shaking off the landing a _lot_ more easily.

"Hah!" the guy chuffed. "Those heroes will _regret_ ruining my test flight." He grabbed at the front of Emmet's sweater (--when did his safety vest come off? That's right-- he unbuckled it to eat lunch, it must have come off in the fall--) and pulled him close.

In the process, the tarp that Emmet had been struggling to untangle from himself was suddenly pulled in mysterious ways over his head, and the thing on his head must have had some curve to it, because it suddenly slipped down and trapped the tarp to his head.

And Emmet _freaked. Out._ Because he _really_ hated small, dark spaces, and his head was _stuck_ in one that was lit only blue through the tarp itself. He started flailing, struggling to find some end of the tarp or the edge of the glass or _something_ so he could _see_ and maybe not get punched in the face by a villain.

Suddenly, his hand met something hard, and slightly warm, and he heard a cry. His hand hurt now, too, which sucked, but he also wasn't getting dragged up by the front of his sweater, which also sucked but because he was falling down. At least he wasn't being basically held hostage anymore.

He finally had a moment to grab at the tarp, and when he could see...

The guy was down. And apparently, was missing his helmet. Emmet realized, grabbing around his head, that the thing around his face must have been just that, fallen onto him in the time they were rolling. That explained how he could see; it wasn't just more shiny metal, it was glass designed to be reflective on the outside.

He sighed, mostly in relief that the guy wasn't going to attack him too soon, and a little to try and relief the aches and pains through his body. A person just wasn't meant to be thrown across hard dirt with a full grown man in a suit of metal, and especially not through stuff.

When the guy stirred, Emmet walked a little faster, hoping to be out of the dark space hidden under the scaffolding and maybe calling the police when the villain woke up.

When he walked out, he had to shade his eyes a bit, having just been in the dark for several minutes... and he heard... voices?

He lowered his arm to see a crowd of people on the sidewalk, and the vigilantes metaphorically hovering in the middle of the empty lot.

The driver of the four-wheeler, which was idling, was visible now. The driver stood in their seat, seemingly staring through deep red goggles at the scene Emmet had just exited. There was an enormous pirate themed robot and a large... cat? Horse? Horse cat with a horn? hanging out just behind. Emmet couldn't see the one in blue, but then he spotted them flying back and forth, keeping spectators back from the scene. At least they knew that civilians needed to be kept safe, even if they did throw a villain at him.

When the crowd spotted him, there was a momentary hush. And then _cheering._

Emmet was startled, for sure; what was it? What were they looking at? His head was still pounding, and the noise didn't help. He stretched, hoping to relieve the pain in his back, even a little bit. When he spun, seeing if he still had that movement...

His other hand hit something hard, and slightly warm. He winced,grabbing at his knuckles, and turned to see what he hit.

It was the guy in the metal suit. Apparently, he had gotten back up, and was coming up behind Emmet, but now he was out cold.

Emmet had accidentally punched him in the face. He realized that must have been the thing he hit the first time; he'd just been too out of it to notice. He bit his lip, hoping this didn't qualify as excessive violence. He hadn't even gotten to call the police, yet.

When he looked back to the crowd, he realized that the vigilantes were all staring at him. The one standing in the four wheeler lifted their goggles, and mouthed something.

And then the robot standing behind her yelled, in an Irish brogue, "The _Special?"_ Or, maybe he wasn't yelling, but he sure was loud.

Somehow, the blue flying person shouted _just_ as loudly, repeating, "The SPECIAL?"

A murmur went through the crowd, as if they were asking each other something. The Special was something repeated through the whispers, and Emmet groaned. He'd _wondered_ what that one whisper was about in his dreams from the last week. He hadn't heard that phrase in so long in his dreams, so he _really_ should have been on the alert for _something_ finally happening with that.

Finally, police sirens were starting up in the distance, so people began to dissipate, knowing that the most interesting part was over. Even the vigilantes were leaving. Emmet just sat down, relieved that nothing more was happening, and maybe he'd take a nice vacation after this.

And then a blue _something_ rushed over his head.

He fell over in surprise, the tarp crinkling under him. Emmet's heart was pounding again, after having finally calmed. "Hey! What the heck?" he cried, when the blue thing finally focused into the vigilante who'd been flying around the civilians. His own voice echoed around him in the helmet, and Emmet realized it probably wasn't so easy to hear him through the glass.

Blue swooped again, close enough for Emmet to see where part of his helmet was duct taped together, and the yellow visor was cracked, revealing a gaping darkness behind it. It was _terrifying,_ and Emmet fell further toward the ground, going from sitting to laying as fast as possible.

He could hear a shout from his attacker, something like "Hey!" while Emmet scrambled away. His head was pounding in time with his heart, and it _hurt._ He was probably covered in bruises, rapidly purpling, and he just wanted to go home and lay on a bed of cute rainbow ice packs. He didn't want to be kidnapped by a rogue vigilante!

"--trying to _h--"_ he heard, something static-y interfering in the voice. Emmet realized that it was the vigilante, and that he was so hard to hear not just because of that static, but because he was getting _very_ dizzy, and he could hear the rush of blood in his ears. Moving so fast after a head injury was not a good idea.

And in fact, this was reaffirmed moments later, when he passed out.


	3. A Friendly Chat?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emmet wakes up with a LOT of questions. Some of them are from him, some are directed at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy this one got away from me. It's nearly double the size of the previous chapters...  
> Surprisingly enough, that's not the reason I haven't updated in a week! I got the flu, and was nervous that the writing would just be a bunch of nonsense from fever, lol. I did actually have to rewrite a good chunk of it. But! I think it's better now. It's mostly chatting, but a lot of exposition, and we get to properly talk to some of our favorite characters ;)

When the Cops arrived, Good saw the vigilantes leaping off into distance. No one was there except one, lying in the dirt just by one of the buildings going up. Good sighed. There was no reason to go after them; they would just vanish once again, somehow.

Good signaled one of his policemen to pick up the downed criminal. He was in heavy armor, with purple decals all over, but it seemed like he was passed out deeply enough to not do anything. They'd take the armor off at another location.

He heard a murmur from the crowd that was left, a dull roar with repeated words: _"new hero," "the Special," "gotta post this"..._

He groaned in unison with Bad in the back of his head. This was going to be a _lot_ of debriefing, especially if there was a new "hero."

* * *

Emmet groaned as he awoke. "No, Mom, I wanna sleep in, tell Cora to turn down the cartoons..." he muttered, hearing the sound of voices and strange sound effects.

Then he remembered he'd moved out to his own apartment years ago, and the only other one there would have been Planty.

He tried to jump up, and fell over, tangled in _something._ Had he been kidnapped?? Tied up?! He struggled to remember, his headache not helping. And he couldn't even remember any dreams that might have given him some _hint._

"He's awake!" an overly cheerful voice called. "Oh, shoot, he got tangled in the blankets. That's not good!"

"Here ye go," a louder, deeper voice grumbled, and Emmet was suddenly lifted by his bonds. He hung for a moment, panicking, and then spun until he dropped. He struggled for a moment, but realized he was free now, and scrambled into sitting position.

He sat up, only to see he was staring at a group of people; he recognized most of them, they were the vigilantes from earlier. He shrieked. He stopped only a moment later when they all winced, and he whispered, "Sorry."

"Ar, ye be _loud_ fer a hero who was so quiet during the fight," the pirate robot complained, dropping the sheets he was holding (had he been the one to pick Emmet up?) to rub at one of his ears. Emmet realized the robot had a _shark_ attached to the back of one his hands. Granted, robot didn't seem like the best descriptor anymore, because those scars on his face looked perfectly real. Maybe a cyborg?

"Ha! You're one to talk, Metalbeard! You yell all the time!" a man in blue retorted with a grin on his face. Emmet realized that this was the one who had been flying earlier, despite his feet firmly on the ground now. He was also missing his helmet, showing off short cropped red hair and a scar on his lip. He was... a lot less terrifying when he wasn't just a shadow behind a broken visor.

"Spaceman, you're just as loud. Now go get Vitruvius, he should know the Special's awake," another voice ordered. The man in blue gave a casual salute, and floated away. Emmet was still trying to figure out what was going on, and he turned to the voice that apparently carried the authority in the room.

She was beautiful. She had dark hair, swept up into a small, high side ponytail, and her bangs were streaked with pink and blue. Her eyes were intense, staring at him like she was trying to determine the best way to pull out his shoulder if he tried to attack her. Even if she hadn't had that look in her eyes, she looked ready for battle, a crossbow strapped to the back of a dark outfit, and industrial, red tinted goggles on top of her head. Emmet realized she was the driver of the four wheeler, seeing those goggles. This was what she looked like under the hood.

Emmet went to rub his eyes, having not blinked for fear of being jumped. But, his knuckles hit a hard, cool surface, and he winced as his attention was brought back to the bruising he'd suffered when he'd accidentally hit that villain in the face.

"Oh no! Sorry, let me take care of that!" a cheerful voice suddenly popped up, pulled Emmet from his thoughts. Suddenly, there was a sharp _horn_ in his face.

He nearly shrieked again, but was distracted by what the horn was attached to. It was the strange cat-horse thing, but much smaller. And pinker. And wearing a sweater. And in fact, looking much more like a human than before. They were smiling at him, and it was almost enough to calm him from the unnerving sense of something being _wrong,_ because as he lookedmore and more alarms were going off in his head, like her eyes being too big, her blush being too bright, her fingers being too short. She was adorable and unnerving at the same time.

They took his hands and leaned leaned forward, letting the tip of their _very_ sharp horn rest just above his hands. The horn glowed, sparkling and bright, and Emmet had to gasp. Moments later, the horn drifted up, and hovered a moment directly in front of his eyes, and then dimmed as the person sat back. "There!" they declared, matter of fact. "All better!" Emmet took his hands back and realized that yes, in fact, his knuckles were no longer bruised and scraped. And a headache he hadn't even realized was there had gone, as well.

"H-how'd you do that?" he asked, and then winced. His first real words to one of the vigilates, and none of them were _let me go._

The cat-horse-person just gave a bright, sharp toothed grin. "I'm magic!"

"Unikitty's the team healer," Metalbeard explained, as if he was talking about how the weather was a bit nippy.

"That's _Princess_ Unikitty," Unikitty huffed, but suddenly floated up to hug Metalbeard. "But that's ok, silly!"

Metalbeard grumbled. "Well then, it's _Captain_ Metalbeard to you." But he hugged them back anyway, as best as he could with a cannon for an arm.

"But yeah, sorry I didn't heal you earlier. I can only tell when someone's unhappy when they're awake! And that's how I can tell if you're injured!" Unikitty explained, sweeping their arm as if gesturing to an entire medical facility, instead of a room that looked like warehouse storage. "And then I use magic to make you happy again!"

Emmet blinked. "You couldn't tell I had bruised knuckles by looking at them...?" he asked under his breath, but stopped. He didn't want to make the person who just healed him mad. Instead, he just went to rub his eyes again, with uninjured knuckles this time, and tapped the hard surface again. Feeling at it, he realized he was still wearing the helmet from earlier.

"We didn't want to reveal your identity," the woman said when she noticed him fiddling with it. Her arms were folded and her eyes were still boring into him. "We know how much that matters to people like us."

Now Emmet was confused by _her._ "People like us...? What are you talking about?"

She blinked, and suddenly seemed slightly more defensive. "People like us. Superheroes."

Emmet felt himself go pale under the helmet. "Nnnno. No no no. I was just eating _lunch._ I'm not a superhero."

"What?!" The woman dropped her arms and fell into a fighting stance, looking confused and _angry._ "But you defeated that villain!"

Emmet shook his head. "That was an accident." He started tugging on the helmet, hoping to have it off as soon as possible. He _still_ did not like small, tight spaces, especially around his head. "His helmet fell onto my _head,_ and I couldn't see."

"But you're the SPECIAL!" Unikitty protested.

"The Prophecy said--" Metalbeard interjected.

"I can't _believe_ this--" the woman said, and everyone started muttering to themselves, about the prophecy and what could this _mean._

Emmet glared at them all from under the helmet, a rare look for him. "You _vigilantes_ are the ones who assumed that. I'm no special anything." He paused, suddenly sad. "I'm not special at all."

Well. That was a bit of a lie, with his dreams. But the vigilantes didn't ask about that, did they? And he was otherwise totally uninteresting.

The woman with the crossbow scrunched up her face. "Welp. I guess I revealed _my_ face for nothing."

Emmet shrugged, trying again to remove the helmet, which seemed to be stuck on _well._ "I mean, I don't even know your name, so you're--" He froze. Oh. "Lucy."

Suddenly, the crossbow was pointed at his face. _"How do you know that name?"_ the woman hissed, and Emmet froze in fear. The others didn't even step up to help, but they looked confused themselves.

"I-- I didn't! That was just something I remembered!" he protested, waving his hands around in the universal signal for _no, stop._ "I swear!"

"How can ye _remember_ somethin' ye've never been told?" Metalbeard asked, sounding suspicious. He was even beginning to pull his sword. Which, Emmet groaned, made sense.

"I-- ok, can you not point the weapons at me? I don't even know how to throw a punch," he protested. "Like I said, the villain thing was an accident."

Unikitty pressed Metalbeard's hand until the cutlass clicked back into its scabbard, but the crossbow didn't move from where it was leveled in front of his nose. Emmet decided to take what he could, and started struggling with his helmet again.

This time, it popped off, with an amusing sound that Emmet might have laughed at it if wasn't such a _relief_ to have his head out of the small space. "Aaah, that's better," he sighed.

"Ah, you trust us enough to take off your mask. Thank you, Special. It's an honor."

Emmet turned to protest at the newest voice, to insist that he _just_ said there was no way he wasspecial, but the words died on his tongue.

Standing before him was a man, ancient looking by the whiteness of his hair and beard, and the wrinkles of his skin. He looked like he'd spent his youth hiking through sunny mountains, what with how his hair was tied back and he held a beautiful staff, maybe made out of sycamore? which was topped with a bright green shard of an enormous gem. He word long white robes that trailed behind him as he walked forward, occasionally redirected by the flying vigilante. The Spaceman, Emmet remembered. However, none of this was what made Emmet falter, not even the presence the man seemed to _exude._ It was the glowing eyes, unseeing but seemingly still staring into his soul.

"I, uh. I'm. Not the Special," Emmet stammered, but it was a token protest. This person, despite the slightly humorous way he kept bumping into things, seemed to radiate authority.

"Ah, but you must be. You're the hero in blue that appeared, and had to be rescued, but will help lead us into a better world," the man explained. "We already figured out it wasn't Spaceman. Excuse my rudeness. I'm Vitruvius. I'll excuse yours, as well. Our little game involves so many secrets."

Emmet started. "Oh! Sorry. I'm Emmet, Emmet Brickowski. _Not_ the Special."

Everyone in the room looked a little shaken. "Matey, ye gave out yer nam a mite easily. That's a bit concernin'," Metalbeard warned.

"Yeah! I don't even _have_ a secret identity, and I know that!" Unikitty added. "Did I miss some brain damage there?"

"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Benny joked from Vitruvius's side. Or at least, Emmet thought he was joking.

"Benny, stay outta this," Metalbeard grumbled. Then he seemed to realize what he'd just said, but it was too late.

"Oooh no! Look at Mr. "Secret Identities are _Important"_ now!" Spaceman-- Benny, apparently-- scolded. "Jeez, seriously, chill out!"

"But--"

"No butts except in seats! He's new, he had one slip up that even a seasoned old Captain like you can make, as demonstrated, and I'm pretty sure he thought we kidnapped him!" he yelled, and then turned to Emmet. "Sorry. None of us are properly socialized, not even Wyldstyle."

"Hey!" the woman shouted. Emmet make a note of the name, Wyldstyle, so that she wouldn't shoot her crossbow at him because he said Lucy to her.

"What? It's true!" he snarked. Then he started giggling. "Oh man, I'm sorry. _Ha ha_ I-- oops." He floated away, giggling. Everyone seemed to just kind of... accept it.

"I'll take this moment to explain things," Vitruvius said, gently letting himself back into the conversation. "Wyldstyle, please. Put down the crossbow. This is a civilized conversation."

Wyldstyle-- or was it Lucy? No, definitely Wyldstyle, that seemed to make her the least angry-- hesitated, but slowly lowered her crossbow. She finally stepped back, seemingly fiddling with the weapon, but Emmet realized she was just destringing the bolt so it didn't accidentally go off.

"Emmet," Vitruvius said, bringing all attention back to him. "You _must_ be the special. It is in the prophecy."

"What prophecy?" Emmet blurted. "Seriously, why have I never heard of this?"

Vitruvius had been stroking his beard, looking contemplative, and his eyes now snapped open, revealing those glowing eyes again. The seemed to contain secrets, and Emmet had a sudden sense that they had knowledge in them that he previously had only seen in dreams.

_"One day a hero in blue_

_Will appear to lead your crew_

_With Piece of Resistance power bestowed,_

_Your villain will reap what he has sowed._

_They will need a rescue,_

_But they will do the same for you._

_This Special hero will appear in time._

_Don't worry, I know, because I made it rhyme."_

There was a long beat of silence. Wyldstyle had her head bowed, and a small smile was on her face, as if remembering something fondly.

"Or, at the very least, that's a variation of it that I told Wyldstyle a few years ago," Vitruvius added, breaking the awed silence.

"You-- did you make that prophecy?" Emmet asked.

"Yes. I occasionally prophesy things. It's my power," Vitruvius answered casually.

"And... have other people who can see the future confirmed it?" Emmet knew he sounded a little desperate, but he was. This couldn't be _happening._

"Well, yes, but none I've spoken to directly. Seers are so far and few between, especially one of my caliber. I only know for sure that this is true because it has appeared in my visions more than once." Vitruvius seemed satisfied with that answer.

Emmet wasn't. _"Than why haven't I ever heard of it before?"_ he shouted, making everyone jump back a foot and Unikitty's fur poof out like she'd been shocked. Wyldstyle's crossbow was back up.

Vitruvius looked unperturbed. "Well, if you truly are no hero, then you may have fallen under all the propaganda that the citizens see every day. There's no information put out my Lord Business about the prophesy, too likely for someone to try and make it a reality--"

"I _mean,_ why haven't I _seen it in my dreams?!"_ Emmet panted for a moment, feeling a bit less stressed out after shouting. And then he clapped his hands over his mouth, knowing that what he'd done was bad.

He'd just revealed his ability.

Everyone stared at him. "What do you..." Unikitty began to ask, then gasped. "Oh my gosh! You have the same powers as Vitruvius!"

Suddenly, Emmet was being crowded with people, all asking questions.

"Did ye see that we were gonna rescue you?"

"How could you not know about the prophesy?"

"Do you think you're as powerful as Vitruvius?"

"Can you see us doing anything cool soon??"

"What do you see in your visions?"

"Why didn't you just say you had powers?"

"Man, this is super special! Why did you say you weren't?"

 _"Hhhhh,"_ Emmet whined, curling in on himself. He nearly backed into the bed frame he was sitting in front of, trying to get away from everyone.

 _"Enough!"_ Suddenly, a gust of wind tumbled everyone, even Metalbeard, away from Emmet. Vitruvius walked through where he'd parted the group, his staff still glowing with power as a breeze swept through the room, rustling his robes and hair.

"Emmet." He was being very definitive now. He held out a hand, just close enough for Emmet to take it, even if Vitruvius was looking a bit over his shoulder. After a moment's hesitation, he took it. Vitruvius pulled him up with a strength Emmet hadn't realized he had, and he nearly stumbled into the older man. "Emmet Brickowski, you may consider yourself utterly uninteresting, unimportant, and not great at all. But so far, with your defeat of a villain and apparent abilities, you seem to have the makings of a great hero. You should use this opportunity for good." Still not looking quite at him, but still somehow _directly_ at him, Vitruvius added, quieter, "Or, you may never know what could have been."

Emmet stared, awestruck. "I--" He paused. "I, um. I totally heard all of that, but just in case, could you repeat that from _Emmet?"_

Everyone groaned. "You didn't hear a _word_ of that?!" Wyldstyle shouted. Emmet was glad she wasn't pointing the crossbow at him anymore, but it still make him nervous.

"I'm sorry!" he shouted, "I'm a little stressed right now!"

"Why don't you use that vision power of yours to see what he just said?" she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Wha-- that's-- that's not how it works," Emmet protested, feeling very tired and confused. He just wanted to go home, and _forget_ about all of this mess.

"Whatever!" she shouted, and stormed off. Emmet winced as he heard a distant door slamming, and could see that some dust had been shaken from the ceiling.

"Don't mind her," Vitruvius waved her off. "She's just obsessed with the prophecy and you've pretty much ruined it for her."

"Oh..." Emmet was quiet now, and actually felt bad about how he'd been acting earlier. "I just... I really don't think I'm the special."

Suddenly, someone was patting him on the shoulder, making him jump. It was Benny, who had a bit of an awkward grin on his face. "Don't worry about it, man," he said. "Sometimes, you just gotta have a little faith in yourself about it."

"Wise words, Ben," Metalbeard rumbled, and Benny grinned at him.

"So! Who's gonna get to _train_ Emmet?" Unikitty suddenly shouted.

Emmet blinked. "Wait. Training?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been listening to Neffex - Grateful on loop while writing. (I got introduced to it through t-ggs96 on tumblr from their Specialswap AU ^v^) It's a really good Emmet song.  
> Thanks for reading! And thanks so much for all the comments!!


	4. Training, I Guess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emmet begins training-- but he might just get thrown right into hero work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy April Fools! :D I was gonna post a prank chapter on tumblr, but I think I just want to post this. I've done my pranking for the day.  
> Thanks again to everyone who's liked this AU! Love y'all <3 (sry, too fuzzy from being at the dentist to say more until later)

"Alright. Training," Vitruvius repeated as they walked out onto the flat roof. "We need to determine your skills, and where to build from there."

"Like, if you've got magic, you train with ME!" Unikitty cheered, throwing up their arms in delight. Then they pulled back into herself, seeming nervous. "Or, I could teach you about fighting with berserker mode stuff, but that one's a bit harder to teach."

"I can teach you hand-to-hand combat," Wyldstyle said, and Emmet nearly shrieked again. She had suddenly appeared right behind his shoulder, and now shoved a bundle of items into his hands. "Or how to otherwise be basically a ninja. I'm also the mechanic on the team."

"Second only to me!" Benny boasted as Emmet picked through the items he'd been handed. A tarp, some kind of bodysuit, a thick vest, and... hair pins? "I'm an engineer. I also know the best ways to survive in bad situations." He suddenly looked haunted. "...mostly." Metalbeard patted him on the back and somehow didn't knock him out of flight.

"Ah've also got me own level of mechanical ability," Metalbeard added. "But I'm the weapons expert, here. Don't let the appearance fool you, lad--" he added, as if expecting Emmet to interrupt, "--I know just as much about modern armaments as I do my preferred items."

Emmet was more curious about why there was an extra piece of cloth wrapped in the tarp, when Wyldstyle handed him some sort of mask without eyeholes. At least it had an elastic on the back, reassuring Emmet that he was right about it being a mask.

"And I can teach you all about precognition," Vitruvius said, bringing the circle of explanation back to him. Emmet realized he'd been spinning on one heel, and nearly fell over as he made himself come to a stop. "After all, I am one of the most renowned precogs in the city."

Emmet titled his head in confusion. "Wait, there's more? How do you know each other?"

Vitruvius looked a bit off-kilter at that question. "Well, we have to keep on the down-low, what with the mayor's dislike of superpowers, but there are a few. I keep in contact with them through secret messages." Then he preened, and added, "But because of my prophesies and their detail, I have been confirmed as the most powerful, locally. Most others only gather a simple implication of what's to come."

"Wow..." Emmet said, looking amazed. "I don't know how you could train me on preco-- precogn-- this future seeing stuff, since I've just got dreams, but that sounds pretty impressive!"

Vitruvius was still glowing under the attention, beside his eyes, when Wyldstyle rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "I think the best course of action would to have me train you in combat, with the others picking up. We don't have much time, and Vitruvius can coach you as we go."

"Uh, we might not have time for that," Benny called out.

Wyldstyle groaned. "What now?" she asked, looking like the wrong answer would get someone thrown off the roof. Luckily Benny could fly.

"Uh... there's an incident coming over the radio," Benny explained, looking anxious. "Police lines are talking about raiding a vigilante's hideout, and I'm getting a distress call from Wonder Woman."

"Oh no," Unikitty cried, looking distressed. "That's not... _nice."_ They growled the last word, red suddenly overtaking their pink and pastel. Emmet could swear a flame passed over them as they suddenly shifted into another form, a powerful and agile looking horse with sharp teeth and the single horn suddenly looking even sharper than before.

"Alright, suit up," Wyldstyle told Emmet as everyone suddenly turned and started moving. "We're just going to train you on the job."

"Wait, what?" Emmet asked, but then suddenly he was being dragged along by a blue, gloved hand.

"Come on, I'll help you out!" Benny said, sounding excited. "I know the bulletproof vest can be a little difficult the first time, and I left my helmet inside anyway."

Emmet was grateful that Benny was willing to help him. Everyone else intimidated him too much, even, despite how sweet they were, Unikitty.

* * *

Emmet remembered why Benny was also scary when they had found his helmet.

"Ah, here it is!" he called while Emmet was struggling with the tarp that turned out to actually be some kind of recycled cape. He popped it on and turned around, and there was the terrifying shadow hiding his face again. The broken visor made Emmet think of zombie movies, and the duct tape didn't help. He shivered, and hoped that Benny didn't notice.

"Here, let me help you with the vest. The first time I put one on, I somehow got my leg stuck in one of the armholes and Wyldstyle yelled at me for trying to take a knife to the straps..."

Emmet didn't like the idea of Benny with a knife, but he didn't comment on it. He also didn't mention the fact that he'd already offered help with the vest. "Thanks," he said instead, relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with the mess of straps and clips on his own. Not to mention, it moved strangely when he let it fold under its own weight, and it made him squirm in discomfort.

Luckily it went on easily, with minimal struggle. Benny even let Emmet go through a few of the straps himself, so he could pull himself out if necessary.

"We can put your sweater over it, too, so that any bad guys don't realize you have it on," Benny said, tightening another strap. "That one's good for surprises."

Emmet winced. He hoped that Benny didn't notice, and ask about it, because Emmet didn't feel like explaining his binder. Maybe he could get it off and live with just the vest...

But then Benny was dragging him along again. "Come on, get your mask on and let's go! The others are probably already close!"

Emmet stumbled a moment, nearly dropping the hair pins. _"How?"_ he asked earnestly.

Benny turned back, finally noticing Emmet's struggle with the different materials. "Oh." Benny stared at the set up for a moment, looking a bit confused. "I think... Wyldstyle's messing with you."

"What?" Emmet asked, devastated. "But why?!"

Benny shrugged. Emmet desperately wished he'd take off the helmet, so that he could see the man's facial expressions. "I guess she's feeling petty because you ruined the prophecy for her. She _really_ wanted to be that hero in blue. You should have seen her first costume." Benny leaned over and whispered, "It was blue and pink, just like her hair stripes, but _nearly all over."_

Emmet's eyebrows rose in disbelief. Wyldstyle did _not_ seem like the kind of person to have more than a sparse amount of color in her costume. She seemed almost too... practical for that.

"I know, right?" Benny giggled. He quickly stopped, looking mildly haunted. "Anyway. I think she's going for a hair covered thing."

Emmet frowned. "What? Why should I cover my hair?"

Benny shrugged, taking the hair pins from Emmet. "I guess hair's an identifier. If people knew what your real hair color was, they could find you a lot more easily than if they didn't. Wyldstyle has a better explanation. There!" he exclaimed as he got the last hair pin in place.

Emmet gingerly felt around them. It seemed like the cloth he'd been holding a moment ago was hanging from the front of his hair, just long enough to cover up his entire neck. He was sure if he looked in the mirror right now, he'd look like Cora when she pretended to have long hair by dumping a towel on her head. "Thanks. Now I just have to figure out how to see out of this mask."

Benny blinked. "Oh! That's one of those halloween store masks. They're reflective on one side, but not the other."

Emmet didn't believe him, but decided to try it on anyway. He tucked the strap under the cloth, rather than have it over. Now that he thought about it, he remembered seeing something like this in his dream from the night before...

"Do you have a mirror?" he asked, and Benny pointed right behind him. Emmet spun around to see something that looked straight out of the tarot deck he had owned in high school.

The mirror had him, but looking like a real, actual vigilante. He had his collar untucked, covering his neck, and the reflective mask in front of the cloth. The cape he was holding was partially thrown over his shoulder, making him look like he'd fit in well with Vitruvius at a meeting of mysterious people who could see the future. The blue of his shirt and jeans was matching, making him look like he was wearing a full suit. Even his tool belt didn't look out of place.

Benny, behind him, for the split second that this mirror was giving him an impression, had his arm outstretched, and he looked like a herald of doom, the darkness haunting from behind the visor. He looked like the avatar of Christmas Future, pointing grimly at Scrooge's grave, his awful future. It didn't help that his blue wasn't much different than Emmet's, blending him into the scene that carved itself into Emmet's eyes for the second time in twenty four hours.

Emmet shivered and took a step back, but forgot how mirrors work somehow, and bumped directly into Benny. He jumped, scrambling away. He kept watching the mirror out of the corner of his eye.

"Whoa, dude, you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost," Benny joked. Emmet wasn't quite sure what was so funny.

"I... part of my dream last night, that's all," Emmet explained. All of these guys already knew about his abilities, after all, and were used to it from Vitruvius. "I saw that. It spooked me both times."

Emmet couldn't see Benny's face, but he could hear the gasp. "Wait, you see specific scenes and images?!" Benny asked, sounding surprised.

"Um. Yes? Not that clearly though, they usually flash by. Sometimes if it's big, I get a whole scene, a clip of the future," Emmet said, backing up a bit from where Benny had crowded into his space.

"Oh Man Upstairs, Vitruvius has _got_ to hear about this! Even he only-- wait, no, I'll let him explain." Emmet realized that Benny was floating when he flipped upside down, fidgeting with his fingers. "I don't know this stuff that well."

"Um," Emmet said, remembering why they had been donning costumes, "shouldn't we wait to talk to him after this... distress call thing?"

Benny stared at him for a moment. Or at least, he looked like he was staring. Emmet wasn't sure, and the time spent in silence wasn't helping much with the spookiness of the helmet. "Ooooohhhh!!" Benny finally shouted, making Emmet jump. "Right! Distress call! Helmet comm!" He smacked something in his helmet, and Emmet could faintly hear static buzz before it faded away again. "Calling Team Ragtag, Spaceman checking in. Still at Safehouse Omega with the Special. En route to most recent distress call, from Whiskey Whiskey, over and out." Benny smacked the helmet again, and Emmet heard the buzz only a second before it cut out.

Emmet thought he could see a grin, hidden mostly in the darkness within Benny's helmet. "All right! Let's get you some gloves, and we'll head out!" He turned and started searching through some boxes.

Emmet thought for a moment about the radio exchange, and frowned. "Did you just make my radio tag _"the Special"?"_ That was annoying, for several reasons; he was so used to his usual tag with his construction crew, and besides that, he didn't get to pick this one. He didn't even _like_ it.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Benny fretted, while digging through a new box. "I just needed to communicate that I still had you around, and I didn't want to reveal your name over the air, since the mayor's Super Secret Police might just pick up our signal."

Emmet scoffed, and kicked at the concrete under his feet. "Fine. I probably won't be using it after tonight, anyway."

Benny looked back at him, and if Emmet could see his face a little better, he would almost swear the vigilante was... sad. Then the moment was broken by him handing off the blue gloves he'd found somewhere in the middle of Emmet's pouting. "Here. If you really are going to leave after this mission, you better not leave fingerprints."

Benny continued talking as Emmet pulled the gloves on. "I mean, I'm surprised Wyldstyle didn't put gloves in with the rest, but she practically _lives_ in hers, so I guess she just forgot! And you know, when we go off, I would _normally_ build us a spaceship, but even if I am really really fast we don't have time, so I guess I'll just have to carry you."

Emmet finally processed that last part of the sentence as he pulled his mask down, and was pulling his collar up so it didn't look quite like his usual shirt. "Wait, what? Did you just say _carry_ me?"

Benny bounced in midair, seemingly in excitement. "Yep!"

And then he grabbed Emmet by the waist, and they shot up toward the open ceiling hatch while Emmet screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: some newer bullet proof vests, rather than being made of tough materials such as kevlar, are filled with non-newtonian liquids (oobleck is a good example of a non-newtonian liquid :D )


	5. Drop it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Benny is giving Emmet a ride, but the battle has just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg ok so, there's been fanart!! [A comic cover](https://sweet-general-mayhem.tumblr.com/post/183503257815/i-really-love-captainunderkrupps-super-hero-au) by sweet-general-mayhem on tumblr (abyssalUpwelling on ao3) and [a picture of a scene from the last chapter](https://amaranthine-elephant.tumblr.com/post/183944554675/a-scene-from-captainunderkrupp-lego-superhero-au) by amaranthine-elephant on tumblr! :D This is so exciting and they're both soooooo good!!

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Screaming spread across the cityscape, and Emmet thought he'd be sick as the skyline _tilted,_ but luckily he'd left his stomach back at the warehouse.

"Dude, quit screaming, I won't drop you!" Benny shouted, as he managed to right them a bit. "But you're _seriously_ distracting me!"

Emmet stopped screaming, snapping his jaw shut. He did admit, his ears rang and his throat hurt after that. He decided not to talk during the mission unless he had to. Or if Unikitty decided to attend to him, but that wasn't so likely. She'd be too busy fighting, based on that temper that flared.

"That's _better._ Alright, our flight time is about 2 minutes from here, 4 blocks and closing. I'll be setting you on the roof, because the fighting will _probably_ have moved to the lower floors, and you seem the type to be able to run and hide pretty easily. Also, in case you didn't catch it, only call us by our hero names. Like, I'm Spaceman, Vitruvius is The Wizard, Metalbeard is... well, he's Captain Metalbeard, but use Captain. Wyldstyle and Unikitty don't really _have_ secret identities, though Unikitty got nicknamed Ultrakitty a few battles back, in case you can hear the police scanners. Alright, 30 seconds to drop off."

Emmet wasn't sure if his head was spinning because of Benny-- _Spaceman's_ babbling, or because they were turning and coming _way_ too close to a shorter, if otherwise nondescript, office building.

"...wait, did you just say you're setting me on top of the building??" Emmet had no issue with being on top of buildings... that had been inspected. He could already see and hear the battle raging on the lower floors, and he thought he spotted _fire_ coming out toward the cars that were parked in front. That _couldn't_ be good for its structural stability. He might not have actual nightmares, but if he did, that sort of thing would be what they were about.

"Yeah! You're not afraid of heights, are you? 19 seconds."

"No, but I'm afraid of a building collapsing on me!"

"Relax, you didn't see it one of your dreams, did you? 12 seconds."

"Who's to say I didn't see it because I wasn't going to be around for it?" Emmet shot back. He knew it was a weak argument, since he wasn't sure if someone could see the future beyond their death, but he was still clinging to Spaceman and hoping he wasn't just going to get dropped too early.

"Sorry! I've got a battle to worry about! Drop off... now!" And with that, Spaceman dropped Emmet toward the roof.

Emmet screamed again, though briefly, and struggled to turn so he didn't mess up his ankles on the landing. He didn't fall far before he rolled, feeling gravel stick into his back and shoulders, and he could swear that his plastic in his mask creaked. He groaned, and thanked his Octan job training that he knew what to do during a fall while he sat up. He looked just in time to see Spaceman diving over the edge of the roof, directly into the battle below.

Emmet sighed, _At least they aren't making_ me _fight._ He wasn't sure if he could do anything, anyway. He might have the strength for fighting some mysterious threat off, but he definitely didn't have the training. He barely remembered how to throw a punch, since his mom taught him when he was, what, nine...?

He peered over the edge to see how the fight was going. A woman with a golden whip and tiara seemed to be taking down the most people, while Unikitty- or, Ultrakitty, as he could hear someone screaming from below- was backing her up with some property damage and... eating people?!

He calmed when he noticed steely skin and glowing red eyes; they were the robots rumored to wander the streets after curfews. It was interesting to realize they were _real._ He felt like he was going to learn lots of things like that, running with this crowd.

He noticed one human in the crowd that was fighting opposite the vigilantes. He had a scowl and frown lines you could see from four stories up, and flame glinted off of his sunglasses. Emmet wondered why the guy was wearing them at night, but he supposed you wouldn't get flack for it when you could throw a metal trash can that hard.

Emmet winced when he saw Spaceman get knocked out of the air by the flying no-longer-a-trashcan.

Suddenly, the man was in hand to hand combat with Wyldstyle, and he was good. He was flashy, but still managed to keep the equally flashy Wyldstyle off him. Suddenly, Wyldstyle leapt _over_ him, dodging a strike that looked like it would have hurt. And he spun, blocking another professional looking attack from her. And Emmet saw...

"Police?!" Emmet squeaked, trying to keep his voice down and not gain the attention of the robots. He read the back of the man's jacket one more time, just to be sure: _Super Secret Police._ There was a little bit of writing that Emmet could barely read at the bottom, but he was pretty sure said _Chief._

Emmet whimpered. He had almost forgotten that his new friends were real _vigilantes,_ and what that meant: they were meting out justice without any training or determination of what justice was, and that made them criminals.

Well. At the very least, that's what he had been learning since he was thirteen. These... what had Benny called them? Team Ragtag? They seemed to be pretty well trained, if they were engineers and captains and princesses and wizards and basically ninjas. And it seemed like OH MY GOODNESS THE CHIEF JUST PULLED OUT A GUN.

There was a blur of movement, and suddenly the gun was shooting lasers at the woman with the whip. For some reason, Wyldstyle wasn't going for the gun as quickly as Emmet thought she would. Then he realized that the woman didn't even seem to notice the 'bullets', seeing them bounce off her as easily as gravel off of concrete. She simply shrugged, and then Wyldstyle had the gun out of the Chief's hands.

Emmet sighed in relief. They might be criminals, but he was glad that they were safe. He wondered if this was the Whiskey Whiskey Benny had been talking about; was that code for the Wonder Woman he'd also mentioned?

He turned his head to check on Spaceman, now that he thought about him, and was glad to see him fighting back to back with Vitruvius. Spaceman wasn't nearly so good at hand to hand combat as the wizard, who was flipping robots and tearing them limb from limb. But, he was nearly faster than Emmet could see, taking down robots before they could touch him, pulling wires from compartments and disabling LED eyes. For some reason, a small device was forming beside Spaceman, looking for all the world like a miniature spaceship.

Emmet was distracted by the sound of a canon firing, turning to see Captain Metalbeard firing down squadrons of robots. They were still pouring in from all sides, but swathes of them were being blown to bits every time Metalbeard fired off his oversized flintlock. The Captain was also disabling the gun Wyldstyle had apparently thrown to him with his other hand.

Emmet was amazed at the whole scene. Unikitty eating robots; Wyldstyle battling the Chief; Vitruvius and Benny teaming up; Captain Metalbeard shooting cannonballs like bullets. Flame lit them up, making everyone glow orange and red in the dark, because the streetlamps weren't lit themselves, this late. It was incredible. And Emmet saw...

_Red and flame and burning, and everything is getting bigger or closer and there's suddenly dust everywhere and it's all glowing orange and there are so many people on the ground and it hurts and there's blue and brown and pink and green and gold and they're all falling, falling and there's a bang and the whispering is getting LOUDER Emmet Emmet Emmet J U M P_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emmet _gasped,_ struggling to breathe. His dream from two days ago. That was how that one started, he could remember now, after forgetting it when it didn't happen the same day. And he knew it was important, because that voice was back, the one that almost never appeared now, telling him what to do.

He clutched at his chest, trying to calm the pounding of his heart. He didn't get _stuck_ in a vision, like some of the TV shows he'd seen as a child, but the memory would hit him hard sometimes when he realized that _this_ was the moment he'd seen. Especially when they were like this one... this one that told him his friends might be _dead_ unless he did something.

He couldn't change his visions. That wasn't how it _worked._ But he could take the fragments he did see, and do what he could do to change what was implied. He could fill in the gaps between his visions, and make something that looked hopeless, better than he thought it could ever be.

He looked around, hoping to see some tool or rope a previous crew had left on the roof.

No such luck. Emmet checked his tool belt, but he already knew exactly what was in it: a screwdriver with magnetic lock click heads, a measuring tape, a blue chalk string, a grease pencil, a hammer, an exact-o knife, some spare change, a mini first aid kit, and a technically redundant multitool. None of which would get him off the roof, unless he spontaneously learned how to lock pick the roof access, or dropped enough pounds to fit through the vents.

He peered over the side again, trying to ignore the cloth flapping in his ears where it wasn't pinned to his hair, noticing that the battle had progressed. Everyone was looking a little worse for wear, except the robots, which were still pouring in from who-knows-where. This time, however, he spotted a balcony for the upper offices, and an awning for the street level.

Perfect for someone trying to jump off a building without going splat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a bit shorter but I like it that way tbh. Also it ended on a cliffhanger (literally! XD ) bc a vague poll I posted got the response to go that direction, and I liked it. The next chapter is already partially written so it should be out soon! And this fic has passed 10k words! )oOo(


	6. Change in view

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emmet might actually jump. Also, we see a different point of view on the battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops, it's been a while since I've updated... I've been busy! end of school, got a new job, stuff like that. but I hope this is a good new chapter! ^v^

Emmet took a deep breath, lowered himself toward the edge, and jumped.

It wasn't very long before he was rolling again, hitting the concrete balcony with a shout. He groaned, and hoped that he didn't need the element of surprise to fix his future. He was sure to sit up slowly, because it _hurt_ to do so after landing on two different hard surfaces in one night. He was certainly glad he hadn't hit the balcony railing, thin metal that would have bruised and scraped his leg and turned it into pure pain. He could certainly use Wyldstyle's ninja skills, because she didn't seem bothered at all by her jumps.

He check over the edge once more, and the awning somehow felt farther. Maybe the fact that everyone was looking exhausted, and the awning didn't look quite stable. Emmet swore he could spot a hole in the canvas with metal poking through, and he knew there was a little flame on the corner from where Unikitty had breathed out an attack.

He was going to have to jump anyway.

The balancing act on the cast iron railing was nerve wracking, and Emmet almost lost his nerve. In fact, he was about to back off the railing, see if he could break the balcony door down, when a sudden shaking of the building blew him off the railing... toward the battle below.

He was still screaming when he hit the awning, and unfortunately, it still had enough tension to throw him up in the air again. He slammed _hard_ into something, luckily not the ground or he may have broken something.

Struggling to shake off the dizziness, he looked back and saw Unikitty, still in that ginormous form, struggling to stand up from where they'd been thrown into the building. The impact from her being thrown had knocked everyone else over, and everyone who had been close started coughing from the cloud of dust that had kicked up from the rubble.

Emmet suddenly, desperately didn't want to know what could have possibly knocked Unikitty over.

"Lad, ye alright?" Emmet was picked up by the cape material where it had wrapped itself around him in his fall and was almost gently set down on the pavement. "Ye could've knocked me over if I wasn't already fallin'."

Emmet looked up to see concern in the gruff face of Captain Metalbeard. "Ah, I-- I'm fine, just a little dizzy... thanks." Emmet hadn't expected that kindness from the man that had seemed to want nothing to do with him not even an hour earlier.

"Dizziness ain't nothin' to laugh at," Metalbeard said. "Be sure to get yerself checked out after the battle."

Emmet nodded, finally getting his feet under himself. The dizziness seemed to be fading, but Metalbeard would probably give good advice about health, since he seemed to be a cyborg.

With that, he turned back to the situation at hand.

Maybe... he could be a hero. Just this once.

* * *

Bad Cop was _very_ good at his job.

He knew how these vigilantes thought. He had... somewhat of an insight on them. For reasons he would _never_ explain.

He knew how to take them down. He knew where to chase them. He knew what they were doing at night. And he had an army of robots behind him.

But somehow, this group was... frustrating.

This was the one group that was the most prolific with their vandalism and illegal activity, but at the same time the most elusive. Somehow, he'd only ever gotten one of them in his building, and she had put herself there, escaping pretty soon after.

The one he was fighting right then. The one they called _Wyldstyle._

She was tricky, partially because of her habit of changing nicknames. No one knew where she came from, and the computers gave odd answers when they tried to scan her, spitting out celebrities and people who weren't even from Bricksburg and none of them _her._

And she was a great fighter. He'd already had to switch out with Good so his brother could shoot at a new vigilante, Wonder Woman, before discovering that she had bulletproof skin. Bad was tempted to toss the useless gun aside, but Good carefully put it back in the holster, because not all the vigilantes had impervious skin.

And then someone _jumped off the building they were defending._

It was a long, terrifying moment where they flailed, and then they hit the balcony. Good was reaching for his radio to get an ambulance for whatever civilian was working far overtime, when the person stood up again. When Good spent a long, confused moment not being able to see a face, they realized that there was a mask, glinting with the light of the fire the vigilantes had started in the chaos. When a cape flapped behind them, obscuring their body, the Cops knew: this was another vigilante.

_Ugh, two new ones in a night?_ Bad grumbled. _Well, we at least at some intel about this Wonder Woman. This one, however..._ Good responded.

Something nagged at the both of them, just at the tip of their shared tongue. Something familiar about this criminal.

Then, with a motion, the figure was on top of the balcony railing. _Oh great, they're trying to get down here. What power do they have? I bet it's some kind of kinetic absorption, that would be a bastard, especially with the jumping down,_ Bad grumped, mentally preparing himself for the punches of a someone like that; it had been a bitch on his kidneys the last time.

But, they were distracted again by Wyldstyle, who had gathered some materials for her _own_ gun in the time he had been distracted. Good switched out, letting Bad roll away and deflect bits of their own robots.

And then something exploded.

Everyone was knocked down, even their own body taking a blow. There was a moment of extreme confusion where Bad tried to figure out where the explosion had come from, and why, while Wyldstyle backed off with a flip to try and get more of an advantage in their fight.

Bad realized, in this moment while everyone was recovering, that it wasn't an explosion. It was simply the impact of the beast that had been breathing fire on the building, somehow. He looked, and saw the person who had been jumping from the building slowly being stood up from where they'd fallen... right near the new secret weapon.

It was so super top secret, Business had refused to say what it did. Just that they should point it at the vigilantes, and never, _ever_ at each other. And to keep it as secret as possible, of course. This was its first test firing outside of a controlled environment.

Apparently, it was... some kind of gun? The sound made the cops think it was some sort of sonic device. That was... less impressive than usual. Had the robots used it wrong? Or was this part of the test? Bad grumbled mentally that Business should have told them more about how it worked, so they could write a proper report on it after the battle was over. Good tried to placate him with the fact that the robots knew what they were doing, but he wished they knew too.

Either way, it had knocked down everyone, _including_ that terrifying creature, so they supposed that was helpful.

He just hoped that it would be enough to win this battle.


End file.
